CH 286

As Reina was falling, she looked up and saw an automaton behind Togami, chasing after them. She immediately grabbed her rifle and aimed at the automaton’s head. The bullet travelled straight towards its target and blew its head off.

However, she was caught by surprise when she saw the headless automaton continue to move. It took a stance in mid-air and aimed its rifle back at her.

Togami also turned around and shot at the automaton. Even after being riddled with bullets, it was not enough to destroy it. However, it was barely enough to temporarily stop it from moving. Reina used this opening to fire more shots. She went for the limbs first, breaking them apart using her powerful bullet. Afterwards, she took shots at the body, smashing it apart.

The destroyed automaton splattered its parts all over the place. Green liquid, mixed with flesh and metal was everywhere. While everything was falling, Reina created a slanted platform to ride down on using her forcefield armour, which also serves to reduce their velocity. When she saw Akira’s bike coming close, she jumped onboard.

“Akira! What’s going on? What happened!?”

“I don’t know the whole situation myself. But since we have no time right now, I will just tell you this. You have two choices: evacuate to somewhere safe, or get away from this place and provide support for Shiori and Kanae from afar.”

Reina hesitated for a second but she quickly made up her mind and glanced at Togami, who would be dragged in by her decision. Thankfully, Togami gave a firm nod.

“I’ll provide support.”

“Alright then.”

Akira made a sharp vertical U-turn, barely touching the ground, bouncing quickly back up.

After regrouping back with Togami and Reina, Akira then thought.

“Alpha, that automaton that they just shot down, it’s pretty weak, don’t you think? Or is it just my imagination?”

The automata that Akira and the others had desperately fought back were much stronger than the one Reina had just taken down. A part of Akira was questioning if he had misjudged Reina and Togami’s strength. If that was really the case, he wondered if his judgment had been clouded.

Thankfully, Alpha denied his worries.

“No. They’re indeed of pretty bad quality. My guess is that they’re moving horrendously because the one controlling them is busy fighting.”

“I see. Then as I thought, the one on the top is the real Pamela, right?”

“I can’t confirm it, but there’s a good chance that the assault will let up if we manage to kill her. So, let’s hurry back up.”

“Yeah, let’s get this done.”

Since it was a conversation through telepathy, it did not take much time and the rooftop was still a bit further ahead. Even so, it would not take that much time for Akira to reach a location where they could provide Shiori and Kanae support.

That was of course if everything went well. As usual, there were obstacles. Akira quickly noticed that something was approaching. He immediately suspected it to be just another automaton on an air bike. Thus, he opened fire.

However, when the source of the signal showed itself, it appeared from behind the jamming smoke. Its whole appearance alarmed him.

It turned out that his first suspicion was partially correct. The one riding the bike was not an automaton, but a mass of flesh which had assimilated with machines. It had multiple hands growing out of its body, equipped with multiple rifles.

Akira’s group and the strange mass of flesh exchanged bullets between them.

Although their bullets packed enough power to kill each other, the deciding factor was the ability to evade and shoot. In this regard, Akira’s group had the upper hand. The first barrage stripped the mass of flesh its parts as blood was sprayed into the air. However, even after taking all that damage, it was still pulsating and alive. It took a second barrage for its form to completely collapse to pieces and fall to the ground.

Akira, Reina, and Togami were able to easily grasp victory. However, they were not pleased at all. Instead, their expression displayed clear unsettlement. Reina inadvertently yelped.

“Akira! What was that!? Did you bring them here!? What exactly were you fighting against back there!?”

“I didn’t see anything like that before though. Just what in the world is going on?”

Akira seems really confused. That was when Alpha suddenly warned him with a grave expression.

“Akira, more of them are coming. Get ready to engage.”

Akira could see more strange-looking similar masses of flesh heading in his direction from afar. They were of many different variations. Some of them had a portion of the flying bike assimilated into their bodies. Some with more limbs than the others. Some with headless upper bodies sticking out. All of them were of a distorted spherical shape, and all of them looked horrific. Although they seemed to be trying to imitate a humanoid shape, it was clear that they were failing spectacularly. Furthermore, they were obviously targeting them.

“Reina. Togami. We’ll take them down before they can reach Shiori and Kanae. Assume that I have no leeway to help you out and try to do your best on your own.”

Reina smiled confidently. Meanwhile, Togami made a faint smile. Both were fired up.

“Of course!”

“Well, I’m Reina’s bodyguard, after all. So, I have no wish to push that duty onto you.”

“Alright then, let’s go.”

Akira suddenly accelerated the bike and went straight up. Afterwards, they went past the roofs of most of the buildings there and raced around the base at high speed. Due to the speed, any normal person would have been thrown off by the centripetal force. However, Akira and the others were able to easily hold on, and continue using their respective rifles to shoot down the new wave of strange enemies swarming the place.

The green blood splattered around as those monstrosities were shot down. However, many managed to quickly recover after they got shot down. Those that crash down would fly up again. With more of them coming, none really defeated, shooting them only seemed to be a waste of bullets.

At the moment, Akira’s group seems to hold the upper hand in that right. However, it was clearly only a matter of time before the table got turned.

—*—*—*—

By Shirou’s command, Erio and the other gang children retreated back into the base. At first, many were displeased since it meant they had to leave the defence line that they had been maintaining. A defence line that had come at the cost of some of their friends. However, after seeing that the team from Drankam had also returned, they were able to accept Shirou’s retreat order. Now, they were confused as to what was going on outside.

Closing all entry meant strengthening the building’s defences. However, they would be simply taking hits without being able to shoot back. It would only be a matter of time before their defences got broken through. Furthermore, the forcefield installed in the base would not be able to buy that much time. To prevent the worst, they have been outside, striking surprise attacks – that was until Shirou issued his retreat order.

Now, the entrance and exits were closed and barricaded. Each person got posted to their respective positions, all ordered to point their rifles outside. Erio and the others tensed up, believing that they would have no other choice but to take hits fired by tanks and powered suits.

However, their anxiety was quickly replaced by shock and confusion. There did not seem to be any attackers coming.

“Erio, what is going on?”

“…Well, if I may make an optimistic guess, I would say that Akira-san has won and the enemies are retreating… Or something like that?”

“Oooh! I see!”

Erio had nothing to support his claim. However, it did help to raise the morale of the other children. Thus, even Erio started to believe his baseless guess. That was right when he saw something falling from the sky. It had completely betrayed his hopeful wish.

“W-what is that thing!?”

Erio flusteredly aimed his rifle. Horrifying-looking masses of flesh with multiple limbs were raining down from the sky around the base.

“M-Monster!? W-why are monsters here…!?”

“They’re still moving!!”

Erio and the children’s bewilderment got shaken off when they heard that. The monsters were still trying to clump up and return back to its original form even after being sprayed with bullets. However, at a certain point, it could not move anymore. It took on too much damage and its regenerative capability was not able to keep. In other words, it had used up all the green liquid in its veins and finally stopped moving.

However, that was not the end. Since Akira and the others were still shooting more down from the sky, these monstrosities were basically raining down to the ground for Erio and the others to fight. 

Erio shouted to the other children, who were in a state of disarray and chaos.

“Calm down and shoot at them! They’re not unkillable!”

The other children finally calmed down and returned back to shooting. With the help of the coordination support system, they were able to perform very well and hold the upper hand. This helped raise their morale.

That was when suddenly, another strange thing happened. The attackers that were hiding suddenly showed themselves. As expected, it was at the worst possible time. However, the children’s fright was quickly replaced by bewilderment. After all, the incoming enemies were also attacked by the monsters.

“Seriously… What the heck is going on…?”

Although the strange situation continued on, Erio and the others had no other choice but to keep fighting back.

—*—-*—*—

As Akira was racing about above Sheryl’s base on his bike at high speed, he looked around his surroundings.

“Alpha, those things… Basically, the ones with greater speed are reaching us first and there are actually even more of them coming, right?” 

“Most probably, yes.”

They were similar to monsters like the greedy crocodile, which assimilated things that they ate. Thus, the ones Akira was facing right now were those that managed to consume and assimilate with air bikes. They were more mobile and were able to get here sooner than the others. This meant that there were still others out there, headed here. Worst, there were most likely even stronger variants. After all, some must have devoured the automata. 

Akira could not help but frown at the thought.

That was when Reina suddenly asked with a grave expression.

“Akira, those things are monsters, right?”

“Eh? Well… I think so…”

Akira was a little bit confused as to why Reina asked that question. After all, the answer was obvious. However, Reina took Akira’s words extremely seriously.

“You think so too, right? Then let’s tell the city defence squad. Although they’re taking a neutral stance in the conflict between you and Lion Steel, I’m sure they would dispatch their men if it’s against a swarm of monsters this close to the city. Togami and I will go and inform them.”

Akira took some time to figure out what to do. Although it was a fact that they were fighting against monsters, it was hard for him to simply accept that monsters came here in the middle of the fight with such timing by pure coincidence. These monsters definitely had something to do with the Lion Steel company. Or at the very least, something to do with Pamela. Asking for help from City Management would mean getting them involved in his problem due to his selfishness. It was not something that he would like to do. 

But in the end, this was something Togami or Reina volunteered to do. Although it was something he would never do, it was also not his place to force them not to involve City Management. It took a moment, but Akira finally realized something. That Reina knew exactly what she was doing, that her question and future actions were self-serving ones.

Even if it meant using monsters as an excuse, even if it meant getting City Management involved, as long as it might help Shiori and Kanae, Reina would not hesitate to do it. Akira finally understood and he gave his permission.

“…Alright, I’ll let you borrow my bike. Good luck.”

Reina, who was originally planning to go on foot, was shocked by Akira’s proposal. Since they had to directly go make contact with City Management due to the jamming smoke, the area that they had to go to was well within the red area where Akira was not permitted to enter. Thus, Reina thought that there was no other choice but to go on their own. Reina knew that they would have to split here but she did not expect Akira would offer to lend them his bike.

“Are you sure?”

“Well, they did help me out back then. So, I’ll have to somehow pay that favour back, right?”

Akira knew that Shiori and Kanae expected him to protect Reina when they sent him to chase after her. Now that they had to move separately from here, Akira believed that he should at least do something to help Reina. Thus, he thought of lending her his precious bike.

“Thank you. I’ll be borrowing it for a while.”

Of course, it was safer for Akira to have the bike around. Even so, Akira allowed Reina to borrow it. She could imagine just how grateful Akira was to Shiori and Kanae, for him to go this far. Thus, as Shiori and Kanae’s master, Reina decided to take full responsibility and gratefully accepted his offer.

“By the way, don’t break it, okay?”

“I’ll be careful.”

Akira and Reina faintly smiled at each other before Akira jumped off the bike.

Now that Reina was on the steer, she immediately accelerated forward.

“Togami! Now that Akira is not here, make sure to protect me, okay?”

“I know it already! Geez! Give me a break!”

Although most of those strange monsters that could fly got shot down, there were still those that were walking on the ground. Some had deformed arms, without skin, exposing its broken bones held together by enhanced muscles. Large-sized rifles seemed to sprout out from their bodies, while some were held, all of which aimed at Reina.

Reina and Togami slipped in between the warheads as they quickly left the battlefield.

After jumping off the bike, Akira was falling while shooting at the monsters around the base. Alpha, who was floating next to him, seemed obviously concerned.

“Akira, I think lending your bike to them in this situation is overkill.”

“Well, I will manage somehow. I’m also almost out of ammo, by the way.”

Akira smiled bitterly while he jokingly said, to which Alpha responded with a huge sigh.

Finally, Akira did deplete his reserve ammo. Even when both his rifles suddenly stopped shooting, he calmly kicked the air and accelerated down.

On the ground, the camping vehicle leapt out of the base through remote driving. Once Akira landed, he quickly entered the already opened back door and finished replenishing his ammunition before jumping out through the opened skylight window. Without missing a beat, he started shooting as if to empty the extended magazine, which surprisingly held numerous bullets for its small size.

The weird monsters got overwhelmed by the storm of bullets and basically got obliterated in an instant. Hundreds of mini-missiles, the size of a bullet but with the homing capability, filled the area like a tsunami. They sought their respective targets and blew up. This was just the stark difference between how many bullets one could carry on a bike compared to a camping vehicle. Akira used that to his advantage as much as he could.

“I bet they don’t have anything like that huge tank. For something like that, I require a bike to avoid getting shot. So, let’s just keep things up like this. Eliminate them before they can shoot at me. That way, I won’t really need my bike.”

Akira said and smiled, Alpha turned towards him and made a deep smile.

“Akira, do you know what ammo expense is?”

“…I used 5 annihilator warheads back then, the rest would not change my total expenses by that much.”

“Is that so? Well, if you say so, then it’s not my place to say anything”

Akira chuckled as if to push that away from his mind. Meanwhile Alpha just smiled amusedly at him.

Akira went around the base on the camping vehicle, obliterating any hostile entities that he encountered. In the middle of that, he glanced at the rooftop of Sheryl’s base. The homing bullets went in that direction, but those strange monsters jumped and sacrificed themselves to block the homing bullets.

[…As I thought, they are deliberately throwing themselves in its way.]

The masses of flesh in the area were obviously focusing on him. However. it was not like they were targeting him because of who he was. They were targeting him because he was trying to help Shiori and Kanae. In the first place, these strange monsters were not being controlled by Pamela. They were simply attacking anyone who was trying to get involved with the battle on the rooftop of Sheryl’s base.

[So, basically, they’re telling me not to get in the way, huh? Just what is going on with them?]

Akira thought that this was indeed strange. However, he simply continued to focus on the enemies around the base without trying to go to the rooftop. There was a good chance that those strange creatures would swarm him if he tried to force his way up to the rooftop. That might only cause more chaos, which could distract Shiori and Kanae. With that in mind, Akira prioritised cleaning up the monsters in the area first.

—*—*—*—

Kanae’s punch split the air. Her fist was filled with killing intent. It was not the usual killing intent since she had decided to stop playing around. Her killing intent right now was more apathetic. It was as if she was just doing her job, to crush an insect. It focused more on efficiency instead of emotions.

That high-speed punch created a thick solid wall of air resistance between her and her target, which was not even one meter away from her fist. However, that did not stop her. She broke through that wall with her skill, scattering shockwaves in all directions.

Pamela managed to nimbly evade. She was smiling while being devoid of emotion, just like Kanae except for her smile. Their role between attack and defence got reversed.

Pamela threw a punch at Kanae. Just like what Kanae did. It was also filled with killing intent. However, unlike Kanae, it was steeped in hatred, hoping to cause her target to die a horrible death. She used the technology to manipulate bodies along with her skills of controlling dozens of automata at the same time. Her attack unleashed a blow which deformed her body to increase its power without any concern for her own life.

Unfortunately for Pamela, Kanae somehow managed to avoid her punch. Pamela’s face twitched when Kanae managed to avoid her punch. Nonetheless, it was a close call for Kanae as well. It was obvious from her grave expression that she could not dodge such an attack every single time it was thrown.

“…She’s strong! As I thought. I should have killed her back then…!!”

As Kanae lamented her past mistake. She used that regret to fuel her attacks.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Shiori swung her blade. The combination of her powerful augmented suit and the skill that she had polished over the years gave birth to a masterful slash that demonstrated her unyielding loyalty to her master and her duty to eliminate her enemies.

However, it was blocked. She was equipped with items which warranted permission from a branch manager to use and that was also the case for her opponent as well. It was a fact that the empty husk of what was once Latis no longer had any concept of a will or loyalty. What was left of him only functioned by Pamela’s hatred. Pamela used all her processing power, which was normally divided among multiple automata just for one body. Because of that, Shiori was having a hard time against Latis, and his counter was already coming for her.

Shiori somehow managed to block it. As their blades made contact, the energy that was dispersed into the air created sparks.

[He’s even stronger than before…! To think that she could do this while fighting Kanae…! No wonder he decided to save Pamela back then…!!]

Shiori thought back, that this would not have happened if she had focused on killing Pamela last time. She was impressed by Latis’ calm and rational decision. To spare Pamela even if it meant sacrificing his own life. Meanwhile, it also showed Shiori’s inadequacy since she made such a huge mistake.

However, Shiori had no desire to give up. She could not do so. If they were defeated here, Pamela and Latis would then go for Reina. That was something that Shiori could never permit. She had no other choice but to win for Reina’s sake. Thus, Shiori made her resolve and shook off thoughts of her inadequacy. She stepped forward to face her opponent.

Shiori and Kanae were already using battle stimulants with side effects. They were already accelerating their information processing and sharpening their senses. They could even see flying bullets and were able to evade them by pure instinct. However, even so, they were not able to fight evenly against Pamela and Latis. They were barely clinging on to their lives while they fought back.

Similarly, Pamela and Latis were hard pressed against Shiori and Kanae. Just like them, Shiori and Kanae were taking huge risks in order to win. However, the difference in what they would refer to as a ‘win’ started to affect Pamela in a bad way.

Shiori and Kanae were fighting in order to protect Reina. Thus, as long as they could defeat their enemies, even if it meant that they had to sacrifice their lives, it would still count as a win for them.

Meanwhile, Pamela was fighting in order to clear her regrets. Deep regret of getting Latis killed because she was slowing him down in their previous fight. This meant that it would be pointless to kill their opponents if they also got killed. That would count as a loss for her.

In order to create the same two-on-two fight like back then, Pamela had to sacrifice almost all of the equipment that she brought from the Lion Steel company. Moreover, she had ordered the strange-looking remote automata, which originally had a humanoid shape, not to intervene in this battle. Due to her hatred, she went as far as to recreate the same situation. Therefore, it was unlikely for her to change her mind now that she had come this far. 

However, the fewer advantages she had, the harder she had to push herself. This meant that she was getting more fatigued, which would eventually affect Latis’ movements. Thus, they were hard-pressed and unable to win.

Finally, the flow of battle changed. Shiori and Kanae knew that the effect of their battle stimulant was running out of time. They knew that now was their only chance to win. Thus, they decided to put everything into their next strike. They made their resolve, gathered all their strength, and stepped out. They renounced any defence and went all out in their attack. They stepped into an area where life and death were separated by a single thread. With the loyalty to throw their lives away, they paved their way forward. Even if it might be a mistake, Shiori and Kanae glanced at each other and put everything they had into their next strike, both at the same time.

Pamela tried to receive their attack, but unfortunately, she did not have the same resolve as Kanae and Shiori. Although she was not afraid of death, she could not throw away her life just for the sake of her own goal. That difference caused Pamela to be at a disadvantage. She took a punch from Kanae as Latis took a strike from Shiori.

Since she believed that Latis got killed because of her, Pamela unconsciously invested more of her attention into Latis.

Thanks to that, Latis was able to perfectly receive Shiori’s strike. Shiori knitted her eyebrows and gritted her teeth, believing that even the attack that she had staked her life on, was not enough to finish off Latis. At this point, Shiori had no power left to react to the next attack. A counter would come, and it would definitely end her life. With that in mind, Shiori’s last thought was an apology. She wanted to apologize to Reina for not being able to fulfill her duty.

But for some reason, that counterattack did not come.

Kanae’s attack reached Pamela. Pamela did try to fend off the attack, but since she was more focused on Latis, she was not able to react perfectly to Kanae’s attack. Naturally, Kanae did not let this opportunity slip. Her punch broke through Pamela’s forcefield shield, even the armour plating on her arms. It managed to bend her arms backwards as the punch went through and reached Pamela’s head. The punch had lost most of its power, so it could not smash Pamela’s head to pieces. However, the shockwave was more than sufficient to fatally injure her brain.

Pamela was dead in an instant. She staggered backwards and finally fell. Kanae, who had hit her limit, fell to her knees a moment later.

Seeing how things played out, Shiori also fell to her knees. Meanwhile, Latis stood there, frozen.

“K-Kanae… D-did you… Get her…?”

“Y-yeah, somehow… H-how about you?”

“W-well… Latis is… already dead… Right from the start… though…”

“Ahh… That’s right…”

Shiori and Kanae were panting. They slowly calmed down their breathing and after a short break, Shiori eventually managed to barely stand. Although she still had to use the sheath of her blade to help her up, she continued to move forward. She then raised her blade and spoke.

“Well… It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Shiori thought that it might be better to render Latis harmless before he could move again. Thus, she swung her blade down.

Even in her exhausted state, Shiori had enough power to cut down a non-moving target. However, her blade could not cut Latis down.

“Wha-!?”

Latis blocked Shiori’s blade.

Kanae immediately threw a punch to help Shiori. However, since she was also exhausted, her movement was greatly dulled. Shiori’s face turned grave seeing Latis start to move as if he was about to strike back.

If Latis attacked them now, Shiori and Kanae would definitely meet their end here.

“…What?”

But instead of striking back, Latis jumped back and left the area. He then started running away from the place.

Shiori and Kanae were shocked. It was Shiori, who first to returned to her senses as she turned her gaze to Pamela with suspicion. A moment later, she glanced at Kanae.

Kanae, who understood what Shiori was about to ask, shook her head.

“I’m sure that this is her real body. Otherwise, we would have been killed by now.”

“…You have a point.”

Shiori was suspicious if Pamela had swapped Latis’ brain with hers. That she was using Latis’ body. However, if that was really the case, Latis would have killed them instead of running away. Pamela was already dead. It was thanks to her death that Latis stopped moving. That was the reason why Shiori was still alive.

“But Latis is running away though, what do you think, Ane-san?”

“Now that Pamela is dead, Latis can’t move through external control. The emergency measure of his augmented suit might have recognized that its user had lost consciousness and evacuated its user to preserve his life… Maybe something like that?”

“Ahhh. That would explain why it suddenly started moving and ran away instead of trying to attack us.”

“We don’t know for sure if that is really the case though. But let’s just leave it be for now. It’s not like we have any strength to chase after him. It’s more important to return back to Milady. Kanae, can you still move?”

“Geez, give me a break. I can barely even stand, you know?”

“It’s nothing compared to Milady’s safety.”

Kanae could not help but smile bitterly. It was not like Shiori could not understand how bad Kanae’s condition was. As a matter of fact, Shiori was also barely able to stand. Thus, Shiori understood that she was basically asking Kanae for the impossible.

“If only Akira-boy would do that for us… We did leave that to him, after all… Hm?”

Right when Kanae said that, Akira suddenly jumped onto the rooftop. It seemed like he had scaled the wall to get there.

“Hmmm, not sure if I should say you came at the right time or I wished you had arrived a bit sooner.”

Kanae mumbled with a bitter smile as she saw Akira walk toward her.

Akira eliminated numerous strange-looking monsters thanks to the large amount of ammunition he had. He was focused on reducing their number to a manageable level. That way, if he went up to where Shiori and Kanae were, he would be able to take care of those that pursued him up to the rooftop.

But due to the unending reinforcements, it took more time than he thought. Since he was worried for Shiori and Kanae, he eventually started to think of forcing his way to the rooftop.

That was when the enemies suddenly stopped coming at him. Every single one that was still alive suddenly started to retreat from Sheryl’s base. Naturally, Akira thought that this situation was abnormal. However, it was a good opportunity for him, so he took off to the rooftop. He was glad to see Shiori and Kanae were still alive. Judging from what he saw, he believed that Shiori and Kanae had already won and slowly approached them.

“It’s good to see you two are fine… Well, at least, still alive. I have medicine, want some?”

“Oh, thank you!”

Akira handed over a still-sealed medicine box. Kanae took it, tore it open, and pour half of the contents into her mouth. She then passed the other half to Shiori, who also downed it the same way.

Akira frowned. He did not expect them to do something like this.

“Oh! It’s working! Akira-boy! This must be pretty expensive medicine.”

“Y-yeah.”

“No wonder it’s working right away. I feel better already. Ahh, but at this rate, the overdose effect will kick in once its effect runs out.”

Since the battle stimulant’s effect had run out, they would normally not be able to stand due to the side-effects. However, thanks to Akira’s medicine, they were now able to fight again to some extent.

However, Akira’s medicine did not neutralize the side-effects of the battle stimulant. It only allowed them to not temporarily feel it. Kanae had noticed that she would faint if she lowered her guard. Thus, she was certain she would stay down for the next few days from the fatigue if she relaxed.

“Akira-sama. Thank you very much for the medicine. I will reimburse the cost on another day. So then… Where is Milady?”

“She went to the city to let them know about the monsters’ attack. I let them borrow my bike, so they should be fine. They should be able to run away if things go south.”

Shiori understood the situation just from his short explanation. She wanted Akira to stay with Reina to protect her. However, Akira was barred from entering the city. Thus, he could not do so. She judged that under such circumstances, it was commendable that he loaned Reina his means of transportation.

“Thank you very much for loaning Milady your bike.”

“Don’t mention it. So then, what happened over here? You won… Right?”

“Pamela is dead. I believe that the commander from the third ward branch’s side was Pamela. But I can’t say for certain they will pull their force back with this…”

“Ahhh, I see. It would be great if they would pull back though.”

Akira believed that although the situation got better, it was still too early to let his guard down. A voice suddenly echoed, which confirmed Akira’s belief.

“I lost, huh…”

That voice came from Pamela. Akira and the others immediately looked in her direction.

“Kanae!?”

“No, I made sure that she’s dead, you know!?”

“Alpha!?”

“She’s dead. It seems like that voice has been pre-recorded and set to be played if she dies.”

Pamela was definitely dead. Akira and the others had reconfirmed it. However, the voice did not stop.

“So, in the end… I’m still nothing but a burden… I had hoped to kill you together with Latis… It is indeed unfortunate…”

Even after her descent to insanity, Pamela still thought of a scenario where she got killed. She had set Latis to escape if that happened. The reason why Latis’s body quickly left the area after Pamela was killed was because she had set him up to do so right from the start.

“I guess there’s no other choice then…”

She had thought of a way to continue her revenge in case they got defeated again. A scenario where she was still a burden to Latis.

“Then, you shall die by Latis’ hands.”

That was her final curse after her death. That faint mumble was filled with hatred. It was recorded imagining her defeat. Thanks to that, her ominous last words were extremely clear.

Akira and the others frowned and looked at each other.

“…Say, isn’t that Latis guy the one that you’ve already killed?”

“We did. But his body was maintained in a state where Pamela could freely control him. We just fought against him a moment ago while Pamela was controlling him. Although, in the end, he managed to get away from us.”

It was obvious from their expression that they had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.